Verse 11.32

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 11.32:

कालोऽस्मि लोक-क्षय-कृत् प्रवृद्धो लोकान् समाहर्तुम् इह प्रवृत्तः ।
ऋतेऽपि त्वां न भविष्यन्ति सर्वे येऽवस्थिताः प्रत्यनीकेषु योधाः ॥ ३२ ॥

kālo'smi loka-kṣaya-kṛt pravṛddho lokān samāhartum iha pravṛttaḥ |
ṛte'pi tvāṃ na bhaviṣyanti sarve ye'vasthitāḥ pratyanīkeṣu yodhāḥ || 32 ||

śrī bhagavān uvāca–the all-opulent Lord said; kālaḥ–time; asmi–I am; loka-kṣaya-kṛt–destroyer of the worlds; pravṛddhaḥ–mighty; lokān–the people; samāhartum–to destroy; iha–in this world; pravṛttaḥ–engaged; ṛte–without; api–even; tvām–you; na bhaviṣyanti–shall not remain; sarve–all; ye–who; avasthitāḥ–are present; pratyanīkeṣu–in either army; yodhāḥ–the soldiers.

Śrī Bhagavān said: I am time, the mighty destroyer of the worlds, and I am here to annihilate all these people. Even without your efforts, not one warrior in either army will survive.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

Śrī Bhagavān is telling Arjuna, “I am all-destroying time, and at present I have accepted this gigantic form. I am here to annihilate Duryodhana and others. The result of My action in this form will be that except for you five Pāṇḍavas, no one on this battlefield will remain alive. Even without your endeavour or the efforts of other warriors like you, all will be devoured within the jaws of terrible time, because in My form as time, I have already taken their lives. Those heroes who are present on both sides will definitely enter the mouth of death, even without doing battle. Therefore, O Arjuna, if you remain aloof from the battle, you will fall from your svadharma (own duty), and still they will not be saved.”